Electoral Politics

Volunteer: Call supportive voters in Colorado (and soon other states) to make sure they get to the polls on Election Day! Visit http://fdl.platform.webstrong.com/dna/network/groups/, where we have partnered with FireDogLake and the Just Say Now campaign to do phonebanking -- all you need is a phone and an internet connection. (You might not see our logo when you first go to the page, but it should show up after you register and log in. Make sure to "join" the StoptheDrugWar.org group. Note that some members have had trouble with the Facebook and Twitter logins, so you may need to go through the site's own registration process. Email justsaynow@firedoglake.com if you need any help with the web site.)

Listen to the 9/27/12 StoptheDrugWar.org teleconference featuring representatives of the three marijuana legalization ballot initiatives:

If our audio player does not load in your browser, you should be able to access the audio file here.

BC health officials present some revolutionary recommendations for dealing with the opioid crisis, Alaska officials defend pot legalization, a second Michigan legalization initiative is okayed for signature gathering, and more.

British Columbia health officials say users should be provided drugs to take home, be able to grow opium poppies. (Wikimedia)

Marijuana Policy

Alaska Officials Defend Legalization in Letters to Sessions. Gov. Bill Walker (I) and Attorney General Jahna Lindemuth have sent two letters to Attorney General Sessions defending their state's marijuana law and the wishes of state voters. Their letters are a response to a letter Sessions sent to governors of legalization states in July. "Marijuana regulation is an area where states should take the lead," they said in the first letter, dated August 1. "We ask that the DOJ maintain its existing marijuana policies because the State relied on those assurances in shaping our regulatory framework, and because existing policies appropriately focus federal efforts on federal interests," they said in the second letter, dated August 14.

Second Michigan Legalization Initiative Gets Okay for Signature Gathering. The state Board of Canvassers on Thursday approved a second marijuana legalization initiative for signature gathering. The initiative, from a group called Abrogate Prohibition Michigan, would end "all prohibitions on the use of cannabis in any form by any person" and specify that no taxes could be imposed. Another group, MI Legalize, is already halfway through the signature gathering phase for its initiative, which envisions legalization, taxation, and regulation.

Los Angeles Gets a Cannabis Czar. The city council voted on Wednesday to approve Cat Packer as executive director of the city's newly fashioned Department of Cannabis Regulation. Packer is a former Drug Policy Alliance state policy coordinator for California. She was also a campaign coordinator for Californians for Responsible Marijuana Reform, part of the Prop 64 campaign. She will be charged with rolling out regulations for legal marijuana in the city.

Harm Reduction

Washington King County Initiative to Ban Safe Injection Sites Likely Won't Make Ballot. A measure to ban safe injection sites in Seattle's suburban King County is unlikely to be on the November ballot. Petition organizers handed in sufficient signatures on time, but it took two weeks for the petitions to get from the King County Council clerk to King County Elections, so the initiative has missed an August 1 deadline to be certified for the ballot. It could go on the ballot in a February special election, but initiative sponsors say they fear it will be too late to prevent safe injection sites by then.

International

British Columbia Health Authorities Call for Revolutionary Approach to Opioid Crisis. The BC Center for Disease Control has issued a set of recommendations for dealing with opioid use and overdoses that includes providing users with drugs they can take home with them and allowing people to grow their own opium. The current approach to addiction is backwards, BCCDC Executive Medical Director Mark Tyndall told the Globe and News: "We strongly advise people to stop using street drugs, and if they can’t do that, then we offer them … Suboxone or methadone, and if that doesn’t work, we basically tell them to go and find their own drugs even though there is a very real possibility of dying,” he said. "What we should be doing – especially in an environment of a poisoned drug supply – is to start with access to uncontaminated drugs so at least people don’t die, then move on to substitution therapy and eventually recovery."

NIH awards a grant to study marijuana and opioid addiction, the head of the NBA hints at a more relaxed approach to pot, Utah activists are ready to begin signature-gathering for a medical marijuana initiative, and more.

National

Last Wednesday, the NIH awarded a grant to study marijuana and opioid addiction. The National Institute of Health last week awarded a $3.8 million grant to researchers at the Albert Einstein College of Medicine and Montefiore Health System to study the effects of medical marijuana on opioid use and addiction. The study will examine chronic pain patients suffering from HIV in hopes of developing rigorous evidence to back a growing number of anecdotal claims that marijuana can reduce the resort to opioid pain relievers and treat the associated pain.

On Sunday, the head of the NBA hinted at a new openness to examining medical marijuana. National Basketball Association (NBA) Commissioner Adam Silver, who has been a staunch foe of relaxing the league's marijuana policy, hinted on a recent trip to Israel that he may be changing his mind. When asked by a reporter about whether the NBA would follow the more pot-friendly NFL's lead, Silver responded thusly in remarks quoted by Uproxx: "I would say it's something we will look at," Silver said. "I'm very interested in the science when it comes to medical marijuana. My personal view is that it should be regulated in the same way that other medications are if the plan is to use it for pain management. And it's something that needs to be discussed with our Players Association, but to the extent that science demonstrates that there are effective uses for medical reasons, we'll be open to it. Hopefully there's not as much pain involved in our sport as some others, so there's not as much need for it."

Arkansas

Last Friday, state officials reported no grower or dispensary applications yet. With the state halfway through its application period for medical marijuana grow and dispensary licenses, state officials said that they had yet to receive any applications, but they weren't worried. "We are not concerned, as we understand the applications require detailed and specific information that will take time to complete," Department of Finance and Administration spokesman Scott Hardin told the Associated Press. "Applicants are likely performing their due diligence to provide quality applications." The deadline for applications is September 18.

Connecticut

Last Tuesday, a federal judge ruled a job applicant not hired because of medical marijuana can sue. A federal district court judge in New Haven ruled that a woman who was using medical marijuana in compliance with state law can sue an employer who rescinded her job offer after she tested positive for marijuana. The woman had previously disclosed her medical marijuana use and had quit her former job when, one day before she was supposed to begin her new job, the company notified her it was rescinding the offer. The ruling echoes one last month in Maine's Supreme Judicial Court, and may signal the beginning of judicial recognition of the employment rights of medical marijuana users.

Hawaii

Last Saturday, the state's first dispensary was temporarily shuttered by bureaucratic delays. Maui Grown Therapies, the state's first permitted medical marijuana dispensary, had to suspend sales just five days after opening due to supply issues because of delays at the Hawaii State Labs Division. The dispensary was set to begin sales to walk-in customers Monday, but now has to hold off until, it hopes, Wednesday.

Maryland

On Monday, regulators approved eight more cultivation licenses. The state's medical marijuana regulators on gave final approval for licenses for eight medical marijuana cultivation companies. Previously, only one grower had received a license. More growers are needed to provide product for the state's anticipated 102 dispensaries.

New York

Last Thursday, regulators proposed new regs to expand the medical marijuana program. The state Health Department has released new proposed regulations that would ease access to the program. Among the proposals are reducing security requirements for registered groups, shortening the length of the course doctors must take to be able to recommend medical marijuana, and allowing two more types of marijuana products to be sold.

We could see less of this if a bill in Iran's parliament wins final approval. (handsoffcain.net)

Marijuana Policy

Maine Legal Pot Sales Won't Meet February Deadline. The legislative committee tasked with implementing marijuana legalization finished its preliminary work Tuesday, but with the committee's recommendations still having to be turned into a draft bill to be debated by legislators, the agencies that will oversee the recreational market will not be able to meet a February deadline for opening pot shops, committee co-chair Sen. Roger Katz (R-Augusta) said.

Oregon Becomes Latest State to Defelonize Drug Possession. Governor Kate Brown (D) signed into law on Tuesday a bill that defelonizes the possession of personal amounts of all drugs, including cocaine, heroin, and methamphetamine. Possession of small amounts will now be a misdemeanor. The new law takes effect immediately. [Editor's Note: An earlier version of this article incorrectly described the law as decriminalizing drug possession.]

International

Iran Parliament Moves to Reduce Drug Executions. The Majlis on Sunday passed a long-discussed amendment to the country's drug laws that would limit imposition of the death penalty in drug trafficking cases to those involving more than 110 pounds of opium or more than 4.4 pounds of heroin, morphine, or cocaine. Iran carried out more than 500 executions last year, most of them for drug offenses, making it one of the world's leading executioners. An estimated 5,000 people are on death row for drug offenses in Iran, and the new law would save many of them from the gallows. But it's not a done deal yet: The measure still needs another parliamentary vote and then must be approved by the council of clerics.

Philippines Police Kill 32 in Drug Raids, Earn Praise from Duterte. In one of the bloodiest operations of a very bloody war on drug users, police killed 32 people on Monday in raids in Bulacan province. Police were doing a heck of a job, Duterte said in remarks reported by France 24 TV: "The ones who died recently in Bulacan, 32, in a massive raid, that was good," Duterte said. "If we could kill another 32 everyday, then maybe we can reduce what ails this country."

Belize Marijuana Decriminalization Bill Set for Parliament. An amendment to the country's Misuse of Drugs Act that would decriminalize the possession of up to 10 grams of marijuana is set to be filed in parliament on Friday, according to committee members and Solicitor General Nigel Hawke. The proposal has been in the works since 2015, when legal drafting got underway.

The president says he will formally declare a national emergency on the opioid crisis, Latino legislators embrace marijuana legalization, Utah medical marijuana supporters can begin signature-gathering for their initiative, and more.

The president will declare a national emergency on the opioid crisis, he said Thursday. (Wikimedia/Gage Skidmore)

Marijuana Policy

Latino State Legislators Call for Marijuana Legalization. The National Hispanic Caucus of State Legislators adopted a resolution Wednesday calling for marijuana legalization. The group, which represents Latino legislators across the country, cited legalization's impact on reducing the black market and providing tax revenues, as well as the racist origins of marijuana prohibition.

Texas Bill to Reduce Pot Penalties Gets Hearing. The House Criminal Jurisprudence Committee held a hearing Wednesday on House Bill 334, which would decriminalize the possession of small amounts of marijuana. The bill was introduced last month by committee Chairman Joe Moody (D-El Paso) for the legislature's special session. The bill would decriminalize someone's first three pot possession offenses, but prosecutors could charge a misdemeanor for a fourth offense. No vote was taken.

Medical Marijuana

New York Proposes Regs to Expand State's Medical Marijuana Program. The state Health Department has released new proposed regulations that would ease access to the program. Among the proposals are reducing security requirements for registered groups, shortening the length of the course doctors must take to be able to recommend medical marijuana, and allowing two more types of marijuana products to be sold.

Trump Says He Will Declare National Emergency on Opioids. President Trump said on Thursday that the opioid epidemic is a national emergency and that he will act to officially declare it so. "The opioid crisis is an emergency and I'm saying officially right now it is an emergency," Trump said in remarks reported by Reuters. "We're going to draw it up and we're going to make it a national emergency. It is a serious problem, the likes of which we have never had." Trump's announcement comes a week after a White House commission on the opioid crisis urged him to declare a national emergency. The move could free up more resources to fight the overdose epidemic and give the government more flexibility to deal with the crisis.

Asset Forfeiture

Pair of Congressmen Urge Sessions to Reconsider on Asset Forfeiture. US Reps. John Conyers (D-MI) and Jim Sensenbrenner (R-WI) have sent a letter to Attorney General Jeff Sessions objecting to his plan to expand the Justice Department's civil asset forfeiture program. "I am deeply disappointed by the Justice Department's recent move to reverse its ban on adoptive seizures," said Conyers in a statement. "The prior policy, which was instituted in January of 2015, greatly curtailed this practice, which provides financial incentives for law enforcement to seize the property -- including the homes -- of individuals who may not even be guilty of a crime. I call on Senator Sessions to withdraw the new policy, which is contrary to the growing bipartisan effort to reform our civil forfeiture laws and practices. Indeed, the time has come for Congress to enact the DUE PROCESS Act, a bipartisan bill to significantly alter these laws and increase protections for innocent property owners."

The body representing state legislatures again calls for marijuana reforms, Vermont's governor is about to empanel on commission to study legalization issues, a safe injection site has been operating secretly in a US city for the past three years, and more.

The Vancouver safe injection site has a hidden counterpart somewhere in the US. (vch.ca)

Marijuana Policy

National Conference of State Legislatures Urges De-Scheduling Marijuana. The National Conference of State Legislatures has approved a resolution calling for marijuana to be removed from the Controlled Substances Act. The resolution approved on Monday specifically references access to banking, saying such a move would result in "… enabling financial institutions the ability to provide banking services to cannabis related businesses." This marks the third year in a row the conference has passed a resolution on marijuana, going a bit further each time. In 2015, it resolved that federal laws should be amended to allow states to set their own pot policies, and last year, it resolved that marijuana should be down-scheduled.

Vermont Governor About to Convene "Blue Ribbon Commission" on Legalization. Gov. Phil Scott (R) says he will shortly convene a commission to study issues around marijuana legalization, but it looks like his emphasis will be on how to detect marijuana impairment in drivers rather than examining models for legalization. Earlier this year, Scott vetoed a legalization bill, citing concerns about driving and youth, and he says now that he will not sign a bill that doesn't have stringent standards on impaired driving.

Virginia Gubernatorial Candidates Split on Decriminalization. Democratic nominee Lt. Gov. Ralph Northam sent a letter Monday to the State Crime Commission, which is studying decriminalization, in support of the notion. That position contrasts with Republican nominee Ed Gillespie, who says he opposes legalization or decriminalization, but is open to exploring reforms to ensure that penalties are commensurate with the offense committed. Polling shows a majority of Virginians favor decrim. Libertarian candidate Cliff Hyra, meanwhile, says just tax and legalize it.

Medical Marijuana

Indiana Republican Will File Medical Marijuana Bill to Fight Opioid Overdoses. State Rep. Jim Lucas (R-Seymour) says he plans to file a medical marijuana bill in a bid to combat opioid abuse. He said he was acting after hearing from constituents. "People telling me their personal stories, how they've been helped by this product, how far behind Indiana is on this issue," he told the Indianapolis Star. "That right there, we have a responsibility to at least investigate it and determine the facts, and if there is something positive out there, we have to pursue that."

Underground Safe Injection Site Has Been Operating in a US City for Three Years. In a report released Tuesday, two researchers revealed that they've been studying an unpermitted safe injection site in operation since 2014. They reported that no one died while using drugs at the site and that two overdoses were reversed by staff members administering naloxone. The report comes as pressure to authorize such sites is mounting, with lawmakers in states like California and New York and cities including San Francisco, Seattle, and Ithaca, New York, backing such efforts.

(This article was prepared by StoptheDrugWar.org"s lobbying arm, the Drug Reform Coordination Network, which also pays the cost of maintaining this web site. DRCNet Foundation takes no positions on candidates for public office, in compliance with section 501(c)(3) of the Internal Revenue Code, and does not pay for reporting that could be interpreted or misinterpreted as doing so.)

The fight to defund federal law enforcement in medical marijuana states continues, the NFL is ready to work with players on medical marijuana for pain management, Puerto Rico is banking on medical marijuana to boost its economy, and more.

National

Last Thursday, a Senate panel approved an amendment defunding DOJ medical marijuana enforcement. The Senate Appropriations Committee voted to approve an amendment that would block the Justice Department from spending any funds to go after medical marijuana in states where it is legal. The amendment, which passed with strong Republican support, is a striking rebuke to Attorney General Jeff Sessions, who had personally requested that Congress kill the amendment. A House committee last Wednesday killed a similar amendment, but if the Senate amendment stays in the appropriations bill, it could be the basis for conference committee negotiations later.

Last Tuesday, the state Supreme Court upheld the medical marijuana registry. In its decision, the state Supreme Court unanimously upheld the constitutionality of the state's medical marijuana registry. The program had been challenged by a John Doe lawsuit, which complained that the registry and associated fees violated his due process rights. The lawsuit was rejected by lower state courts, and now the state's highest court has agreed.

Ohio

Last Friday, the state's medical marijuana rules got settled. A bipartisan legislative panel has decided not to modify more than a hundred separate rules proposed by the state Pharmacy Board and Department of Commerce to govern the state's nascent medical marijuana industry. That means medical marijuana growers, processers, sellers, testers, and users can now begin to get down to business. Growing operations are expected to start being licensed next month, and the whole system is supposed to be up and running by September 1, 2018.

Pennsylvania

Last Thursday, a medical marijuana job fair drug hundreds. Hundreds of people showed up for a chance to get a job at PurePenn's future production facility in McKeesport. The company will be growing pot plants and producing capsules, ointments, and oils. It is expected to be fully operational by January. Employees will be paid twice the minimum wage.

Puerto Rico

On Tuesday, the island was looking to medical marijuana as an economic boost. Economically ravaged Puerto Rico is counting on medical marijuana to boost its economy. The island's treasury secretary estimates the industry could generate up to $100 million a year and help reduce an unemployment rate currently around 12%. The US territory is in a fiscal crisis, facing billions in budgets cuts and a public debt load of $70 billion. David Quinones, operations director of the island's largest medical marijuana producer, Natural Ventures, told the Washington Post, "Name one new industry in Puerto Rico capable of generating millions and billions in capital and improving an economy in a mega-crisis. There is none."

Federal bills to legalize marijuana and allow drug testing of people seeking unemployment benefits get filed, the presidential commission on opioids issues a preliminary reports, the NFL offers to work with the players' union on medical marijuana, and more.

Marijuana Policy

With overdoses at record levels, Trump's presidential commission takes a largely public health approach to the crisis.

Corey Booker Files Federal Marijuana Legalization Bill. Sen. Cory Booker (D-NJ) filed the Marijuana Justice Act on Tuesday. The bill would remove marijuana from the Controlled Substances Act, punish states for disproportionately arresting or imprisoning poor people or minorities for marijuana offenses, prevent deportation for marijuana offenses, provide for resentencing of federal marijuana prisoners, and create a $500 million "Community Reinvestment Fund" for communities most negatively impacted by the war on drugs.

South Dakota Legalization Initiative Imperiled by Wording Error. A legalization initiative sponsored by New Approach South Dakota could be in trouble over a wording error. The way the measure is worded, it would, according to Legislative Council analysts, only legalize pot paraphernalia, not marijuana itself. The campaign said the problem is only a "typo" and can be fixed. Friendly legislators have offered to author a legislative fix if the initiative passes. Because of state initiative deadlines, it is too late for petitioners to start over in time to get on the November 2018 ballot.

Ohio Medical Marijuana Rules Get Settled. A bipartisan legislative panel has decided not to modify more than a hundred separate rules proposed by the state Pharmacy Board and Department of Commerce to govern the state's nascent medical marijuana industry. That means medical marijuana growers, processers, sellers, testers, and users can now begin to get down to business. Growing operations are expected to start being licensed next month, and the whole system is supposed to be up and running by September 1, 2018.

Federal Unemployment Drug Testing Bill Filed. Rep. Buddy Carter (R-SC) has filed the Ensuring Quality in the Unemployment Insurance Program (EQUIP) Act, which would require people applying for unemployment assistance to undergo substance abuse screening and possible drug testing to receive benefits. "Unemployment is not for people who are abusing drugs and using that money to buy drugs but instead to help them get back on their feet," said Rep. Carter. "And we want to make sure that is what they are doing with it." People applying for those benefits have been laid-off from jobs for lack of work, not let go for drug abuse.

Heroin and Prescription Opioids

Presidential Commission Issues Belated Preliminary Report, Calls for Declaration of National Emergency. The presidential Commission on Combating Drug Addiction and the Opioid Crisis led by Gov. Chris Christie (R-NJ) issued a preliminary report on Monday whose lead recommendation is for the president "to declare a national emergency under either the Public Service Act or the Stafford Act." The report largely takes a public health approach to the issue, calling as well for expanding drug treatment capacity under Medicaid, increasing the use of medication-assisted treatment for opioid disorders, mandating that all police officers carry the opioid overdose reversal drug naloxone, broadening Good Samaritan laws, and encouraging the development of non-opioid pain relievers.

Connecticut has become the 14th state to end civil asset forfeiture, Nevada's state government is moving to ease a potential marijuana shortage, Jeff Sessions gives another drug war speech, and more.

Attorney General Sessions showed up at DARE to slam Obama-era drug reforms. (senate.gov).

Marijuana Policy

Massachusetts Governor Says Deal on Legalization Close. Gov. Charlie Baker (R) said Thursday lawmakers are close to reaching a deal on a bill that will regulate legal marijuana in the state. The House had favored a 28% tax and allowing localities to ban pot businesses without a popular vote, while the Senate held to the 12% tax included in the voter-approved legalization initiative and wouldn't allow pot shop bans without a popular vote. "I'm told there are only a couple minor things that are outstanding. I hope they get them done because if they don't get them done, I think at some point, we're going to have to go forward with the law as it was written," said Baker.

Nevada Regulators Set to Approve Emergency Regs to Avoid Pot Shortage.State tax officials are set to vote Thursday on an emergency regulation that they hope will allow marijuana stores to avoid running out of supply. The regulation would allow the state to issue distribution licenses that are currently being held up by a legal challenge from liquor distributors, who want a cut of the action. Because of heavy demand since legal sales started July 1, some shops are "running on fumes," said Nevada Dispensary Association President Andrew Jolley.

Attorney General Sessions Again Attacks Drug, Sentencing Reforms. In a speech at the Drug Abuse Resistance Education (DARE) training conference in Dallas on Tuesday, Attorney General Jeff Sessions called the country's drug problem "unprecedented" and generally blamed it on Obama-era sentencing reforms that led prosecutors "not to charge the most serious offenses." Sessions said a new Justice Department police directing prosecutors to seek mandatory minimum sentences was the way to go. "We are going to trust our prosecutors again," Sessions said Tuesday. "This policy empowers trust in professionals to apply the law fairly and exercise discretion when appropriate."

Michigan legalizers are fast off the mark in their initiative signature-gathering campaign, the Drug Policy Alliance and 30 groups call for drug decriminalization, Oregon is set to defelonize drug possession, and more.

Marijuana Policy

Michigan Initiative Campaign Already Has 100,000 Raw Signatures. The Coalition to Regulate Marijuana Like Alcohol, which wants to put a legalization initiative on the November 2018 ballot, announced Monday that signature gathering was ahead of schedule and that the group had already passed the 100,000 mark. To qualify for the ballot, the group must collect 252,523 valid voter signatures within a six-month period. They began signature gathering in late May.

DC Public Use Marijuana Arrests Tripled Last Year. More than 400 people were arrested in the nation's capital last year for publicly using marijuana, a nearly three-fold jump over the 142 arrested in 2015. And this year so far the pace of arrests remains steady. Some advocates criticized the increase in arrests, with Adam Eidinger, the man behind DC's legalization law, saying the right to smoke marijuana in the District is effectively reserved for "those who own private property," with renters, residents of public housing, and visitors out of luck. "A lot of it is people not realizing they can't smoke in public," he said of the increase in arrests. "A lot of it is people who have no place else to go."

Medical Marijuana

Puerto Rico Governor Signs Medical Marijuana Bill. Gov. Ricardo Rosello, a former biomedical engineer, on Sunday signed into law a bill that legalizes and regulates medical marijuana in the US territory. The move comes after Rossello criticized an earlier executive order allowing medical marijuana as insufficient. "As a scientist, I know firsthand the impact that medicinal cannabis has had on patients with various diseases," he said. "The time has come for Puerto Rico to join the flow of countries and states that have created similar legislation."

Drug Policy

Drug Policy Alliance Report Calls for US Drug Decriminalization. In a new report endorsed by more than 30 organizations, the Drug Policy Alliance is calling for the end of arresting people simply for using or possessing drugs. "Our current laws have branded tens of millions of people with a lifelong criminal record that makes it hard to get a job or an apartment," said Art Way, senior director of national criminal justice strategy at the Drug Policy Alliance. "The experience of the last few decades shows that criminalization has been utterly ineffective in reducing problematic drug use."

Sentencing

Oregon Defelonizes Drug Possession. The state legislature has approved House Bill 2355, which makes simple possession of drugs such as heroin, MDMA, and meth a misdemeanor punishable by no more than a year in jail. Under current law, drug possession is a felony punishable by up to 10 years in prison. The bill also includes a provision aimed at reducing racial profiling by police. The legislature also approved House Bill 3079, which reduces penalties for property crimes often related to problematic drug use. Gov. Kate Brown (D) is expected to sign the bills into law shortly.